The Battle Of Blood
by ShadowManipulator7
Summary: The Vikings of Berk allow four new foreigners to live with them, but only Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III realizes that it was the worst mistake they have ever made. '-.-'


[AU: I know I'm probably going to go to hell for writing another story when I have three others that I still need to finish, but this came to my mind after I had a dream about How To Train Your Dragon one night. I've seen the movie a million times and I've read the first book so I'm pretty confident that this will turn out to be a good story - hopefully. This is during the beginning of the movie - so before the battle with the Green Death and before Toothless and Hiccup became friends - and I just added a few extra characters in the story. It's the same story, just with new people. Read on.]

The Battle Of Blood

Prologue

The Isle of Berk trades with many other islands, sailing from one place to another to retrieve new treasures from other lands. New inhabitants arrive in Berk all the time to gamble and start a new life, sometimes to watch the dragon fights in the Kill Ring every now and then. No one questions the new arrivals to the dragon-infested island, until four unusually strange teenagers visit, explaining that they are in need of help and a place to stay. The Vikings of Berk allow these new foreigners to live with them, but only Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III realizes that it was the worst mistake they have ever made.

Hiccup's POV

"Everyone listen up because I'm only going to say this once." Gobber said on the first day of dragon training.

The six of us - 'us' referring to me, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Astrid, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs - were all in the Kill Ring with Gobber, more than anxious on our first day fighting dragons, or at least they were. In my opinion, I was just freaked out about it. Ever since I set that Night Fury free, I couldn't even think about hurting another dragon, let alone fighting one for real, even if it was just practice for the future. I just hope I make it through today in one piece.

Gobber the Belch was our teacher, something I found quite shocking since he didn't tolerate teenagers. He had told me that my dad - Stoick the Vast, chief of the Hairy Hooligans - had ordered him to train the new recruits for dragon training while he and some of the other villagers set out to locate the Dragon's Nest. Supposedly, if they found the nest then they could exterminate the dragons and force them to live somewhere else far away from Berk. That was the goal, but no one has ever found the Dragon's Nest, so what were the chances of finding it now? I think Gobber was pretty bummed not being able to go out on the mission with my father, especially considering they were best friends, but I don't think being here with us is going to kill him.

The sky was a gloomy grey, signifying a rain shower or a storm later in the evening. It only made sense since we lived in a very cold climate, but I could just feel something different about today, whether it was because I was going to face a dragon for the second time or because I knew I had a horrible secret hiding in the woods right now, I didn't know, but there was definitely something off about the way the sky blurred into a giant smoke ball.

Gobber only received silence from the rest of us as his response. He cleared his throat and shifted on his peg leg before he spoke again. "I was informed this morning that we'll be having new students joining us today, so be nice to them and don't let them get eaten." He paused to whistle and waved to someone behind us. "Oy! You can come in now! We have to start the lesson sooner or later!"

I turned around and saw four very pale teenagers standing near the gate, all huddled close together in a timid line. I could tell that none of them were related, but they did seem to have a close bond of some sort. They were all different heights and looked unique from one another, but they were also the same, but that was probably because I had never seen them before. There were three girls and only one boy, which evened out our sexes count here in class - excluding Gobber.

The boy of the group was taller than the three girls by several inches, probably measuring at the same height as Fishlegs. He had chin-length red hair that fell in front of his face as the wind blew by, but I was just able to see honey brown eyes hidden behind his flaming head. His face was long and handsome, definitely a heartthrob for any of the girls, and he stood slim and straight next to the others. He wore a dark blue shirt that fell over his pants with a grey alligator belt and a charcoal vest. His pants were grey with what looked like burn marks and black boots, a pair of black bands covering his arms from his wrists to his biceps. He carried an ax like mine in his left hand while his right arm was slung around one of the girls' shoulders, who I assumed was his girlfriend.

This girl was sullen-looking and had her left arm hooker around the boys' waist. She came up to his shoulder, but she was not the shortest person there. Her midnight black hair was held up in two ponytails on top of her head, some of her bangs hanging in front of her bloodshot brown eyes. She had a small scar below her lower lip that looked like a hole or a bruise, but I couldn't be sure. She had on a black top with a long dark skirt, a strange white pendant hanging around her waist like a belt in the shape of a star. Her black arm bands paled her bare shoulders and her boots ran up to her knees, just barely showing a pair of grey pants. A medium sized iron hammer rested in her free hand.

The girl next to her was shorter than the rest of them, probably shorter than me, and she was definitely the thinnest. She had a childlike glint in her grassy green eyes and a nervous smile on her pink lips, her light brown curls bouncing as she swayed from side to side happily. She had a small heart shaped face and a white paw necklace hung around her slim throat. A black shirt with a red rabbit fell over her shoulders loosely with red and black sleeves. A plain black skirt was buckled over her faded red pants with a pair of grey boots, a simple white leather belt fitted around her hips. She carried the smallest weapon, a rough grey dagger that needed some serious sharpening.

The last girl was medium sized, not _quite_ tall but not _quite_ short, although she did look like the type to throw a seriously good punch. She wore a dark grey shirt with a red dragon on the front - or a small lizard, I couldn't tell. She had a long black skirt with grey pants and worn out black boots. A black necklace wrapped around her throat comfortably and a black bracelet was buckled around her left bicep, dark grey arm bands placed carefully between her elbows and her palms. She seemed more curious than the others as she watched the rest of us with watery blue eyes. She had her mousy brown hair pulled into a high ponytail behind her head, her bangs falling in front of her right eye. She almost looked like Astrid, but she was a lot paler and more - _dark_. She had a small spiked hammer, but didn't look very confident carrying it.

Needless to say, they were _all_ quite a sight.

I heard Gobber clear his throat then begin to speak again. "I believe an introduction is in order, eh, new kids?" I could tell he was growing impatient with holding up the lesson, but it wasn't like we could just ignore newcomers to Berk, right? That would be rude . . .of course, when did Vikings ever care about being polite?

I could see them hesitate, but sooner or later one of them - the brunette girl - spoke up. "Well, I'm Birthmark." She said, her voice smooth and soft, carrying volumes when she was on the other side of the Kill Ring. She motioned to the smaller girl next to her, then to the girl in black, then to the boy lastly as she introduced them. "This is Rabbitpaws and that's Bloodlust, and her beau Sniper. We just came here because our town was raided by dragons."

"That's the only reason you came here?" Tuffnut asked, annoyance thickening his voice.

"We couldn't have saved it even if we were able to." The boy, Sniper, said. "We've never been attacked by the dragons before, so none of us were prepared for the raid. Everyone sort of split up, but we all stayed together. We're lucky to be alive."

"Well, you came to the right place then." Gobber said cheerfully. "Because now you're going to learn how to fight dragons. Behind these doors are a few of the many species you will learn to fight. The Deadly Nadder, the Hideous Zippleback, the Monstrous Nightmare, the Terrible Terror, and the Gronkle." He walked over to the Gronkle's gate, ready to pull the handle to let it out when Snotlout leapt forward, somewhat panicking.

"Whoa, whoa! Aren't you going to teach us _first_?" My cousin asked, obviously afraid of being blasted or eaten on his first day.

Gobber smiled. "I believe in learning on the job." I heard a loud clinking sound as he pulled the handle down. Not even two seconds later, the Gronkle flew out of the gates and into the air, sniffing around before charging at us.

As I ran away from the flying Gronkle I noticed that the new recruits had no idea what to do. I ran up to them and told them to scatter otherwise they'll get hit. They did as they were told almost on command and ran around me as the dragon flew in our direction. I heard Gobber shouting commands at us as we moved around the ring.

"Today is about survival. If you get blasted, _you're dead_!"

'-.-'

"Remember, a dragon will always-" Gobber turned to me, his warm mead-scented breath filing my nostrils. "-_always_ go for the _kill_." With that he turned and walked away. The others left when Gobber opened the gate, barely giving me a second thought.

I shook my head, thinking over what Gobber had said. _If a dragon will always go for the kill, why didn't that Night Fury get me when he had the chance?_ The Night Fury that I had shot down merely growled at me - or in my ear at least - possibly warning me to stay away from him, but does a dragon really go straight for the kill every time? It couldn't have been true if I was still alive, right? Or is that wrong?

My thoughts were interrupted when a hand entered my field of vision. I looked up to see one of the new kids - the tiny girl, Rabbitpaws - crouched next to me, her pale arm outstretched to me. She smiled a little. "I'm sure Berk is much more entertaining than La La Land there, silly." She said with a high, childish voice. I saw the other three new kids standing not too far away behind her, offering me kind smiles and sympathetic eyes.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Actually, I prefer La La Land." I tapped my temple with my index finer. "It's the only place I can get some peace and quiet." I took her offering hand and thanked her before retrieving my ax a few feet away.

"Well, I'm sure it is, but here you have friends and family." Birthmark replied carefully.

"Hardly." I said bitterly. I shifted on my feet for a moment. "I'm Hiccup, by the way."

Rabbitpaws' smile broadened. "It's very nice to meet you, Hiccup." She had a spring in her step as moved around me to her other friends. "I'm sure you know our names already." She paused. "Why didn't you leave with your friends?"

"They're not my friends exactly." I said, not entirely sure of what to classify them as. I've always been the kind of person that was weird and socially awkward, not to mention clumsy and the towns' classic screw-up, so I was usually alone. My closest friend had been Fishlegs, but even he was in the in-crowd while I wasn't. I've gotten used to it, though. Being alone all the time has its advantages. "Couldn't you tell how they left me and didn't even care if I got blasted by that Gronkle or not?"

I saw Sniper snicker. "Yeah, that was pretty bad. They could at least show a little more kindness." He said with a grin. "Hey, do you think you could show us around for a bit, just so that we can get an idea of what Berk looks like and all?"

"We got lost on the way up here." Bloodlust said, her voice monotone and her attitude as dark as her clothing style.

I raised an eyebrow. They're asking _me_ for help? _Me _of all people? I shrugged at them, still astounded that they were being nice to me when no one else did. "Uh, sure, but there's really not a lot to see. Berk is pretty boring most of the time, until night falls and the dragons come out, that is."

Birthmark chuckled under her breath, smirking whole-heartedly at me. This could be the beginning of an odd friendship . . .

[AU: Well, that was the first chapter. Did anyone like it? Did anyone hate it? Okay, please don't tell me that. If you already think you know what's going to happen keep it to yourself and don't spoil it for others, okay? Please and thank you. I only own Birthmark, Bloodlust, Rabbitpaws, and Sniper, everything else is not mine. Also, I labeled this story as Astrid and Hiccup Romance, but that won't happen until close to the end of the story, so sorry to disappoint any AxH fans. Review please! Signing off - ShadowManipulator7 '-.-']


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